Unit 5.4 – R.E.R.

Waste recycling System

( issues and opportunities)
Content

• Present status on waste management in India

• Pathways and pollution
• Evolution of waste management
• Waste recycling and conflicts
• Need for regulatory convergence

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 2

Present status
Waste recycling system

Waste recycling system

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery
of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept.
The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original
state.
It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help
lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Recycling can prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of
fresh raw materials, thereby reducing: energy usage, air pollution (from incineration), and water
pollution (from land filling).
Waste processing, treatment and recycling

Waste processing and treatment includes a lot of different processes. Aside from the organizational,
structural and technical measures of waste treatment, the following should also be considered:

• Controlled land filling, • Thermal treatment, • Biological treatment, • Chemical-physical conversion, •

Mechanical treatment and • Recycling

Processing, by definition, falls under the heading of physical treatment by using physical techniques for
changing the composition and character of the waste. It is possible to distinguish between thermal and
mechanical treatment.
Every recycling process represents a conversion of the material. So the process of recycling is also a process
of production of new materials.
It describes the process of producing secondary raw material and compares a series of activities that
involves collecting, sorting, processing or converting used materials into useful goods. All these activities
conduce to reduce the amount of waste which has to landfill. So the goal of every recycling process is to use
or reuse materials from garbage in order to minimize the amount of waste. Of significance in this recycling
process is that the waste processing starts with the separation. A separation of waste at the beginning of the
process supports the treatment of the waste and helps to raise the efficiency of the facilities which deals
with the waste.
Present status in India

• Municipal - 62 million tonnes/annum

• Construction & Demolition – 500-700 million tonnes/annum
• Industrial
o Hazardous – 7.90 million tonnes/annum
o Non Hazardous – 200 million tonnes/annum
• Biomedical – 1.5 lakh tonnes/annum
• Electronic – 8 lakh tonnes/annum

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 6

Major hazardous waste streams
Annual quantities
Waste types
Tonnes Percentage
Cyanide waste 15,120 0.4
Heavy metals 381,015 9.3
Organic wastes including solvents and tars 633,615 15.4

Inorganic wastes including ETP sludge 3,039,513 74.0

Asbestos waste 7,786 0.2
Miscellaneous 30,353 0.7

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 7

Key features of M S W management

• Growing waste quantities Would require around 1750 acres of land if

disposed
• Change in waste composition, increasing quantities of packaging
waste, 40-50% of organics in waste stream
• Recyclable content of the MSW is picked up by waste pickers and send
for recycling
• India reports high recycling rate of 60% though most of it happens in
informal sector
• C&D waste presently disposed on land but can be recycled
• High moisture content and low calorific value of organic fraction of
Indian MSW makes it more amendable to biochemical conversion
Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 8
Key issues - M S W

• Overall, general apathy of local bodies and public to deal with the
issues related to management of MSW
• Lack of waste segregation at source
• In efficient collection – efficiencies range from 50 to 90% in major
metros; smaller cities, it is around 50%
• Inadequate transportation facilities in more than 70% of the cities
• Inadequate disposal – very few sanitary landfills
• Landfill gas emission and contamination of water and soil due to
leachate
• Biomedical waste, slaughter house waste, industrial waste often
reaching the MSW dumpsites posing potential hazard to sanitary
workers and waste pickers

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Pathways and pollution
Varied Impacts of Disposal

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Contamination due to leachate

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Fire due to L F G

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Evolution of waste management
Increasing Complexity of Waste Streams
Up to 1980s
Solid
• Municipal solid waste
• Industrial hazardous and
nonhazardous wastes
Liquid
• Municipal sewage
• Industrial wastewater
Gaseous
• Air pollution from stacks
Upto 1990s Present
• Construction and • E-waste
demolition debris • Packaging waste
• Plastic waste • Exhaustive PV waste
• Hospital waste
• Contamination of sewage • Discharge of residual
from household pharmacy products
industries • Neutraceuticals
• Emission from • Emission from
incinerators automobile exhaust
• Emission of dioxins and
furans
Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 14
Drivers For Waste Management Modernization

Emerging Driver 4
Climate Co-benefits/Circular Economy

Driver 3
Resource value of waste

Driver 2
Environment

Driver 1
Public Health

Moving form Waste Management to Resources Management

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 16

Waste Management Evolution

• Public and Environmental Health Protection was the driver for waste management few
decades ago, and it still is for some developing countries

• Therefore, end-of-pipe technology to manage waste after its been generated was most
practiced course of action

• Then came the reduce reuse and recycle of waste (waste as resource management)

• Now, waste management is revolutionizing as tools for attaining sustainability and circular
economy

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 17

Shift towards closing the material use cycle

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Waste recycling and conflicts
Waste processing, treatment and recycling

Waste processing and treatment includes a lot of different processes. Aside from the organizational,
structural and technical measures of waste treatment, the following should also be considered:

• Controlled land filling, • Thermal treatment, • Biological treatment, • Chemical-physical conversion, •

Mechanical treatment and • Recycling

Processing, by definition, falls under the heading of physical treatment by using physical techniques for
changing the composition and character of the waste. It is possible to distinguish between thermal and
mechanical treatment.
Every recycling process represents a conversion of the material. So the process of recycling is also a process
of production of new materials. It describes the process of producing secondary raw material and compares
a series of activities that involves collecting, sorting, processing or converting used materials into useful
goods. All these activities conduce to reduce the amount of waste which has to landfill. So the goal of every
recycling process is to use or reuse materials from garbage in order to minimize the amount of waste. Of
significance in this recycling process is that the waste processing starts with the separation. A separation of
waste at the beginning of the process supports the treatment of the waste and helps to raise the efficiency
of the facilities which deals with the waste.
Waste Recycle System
M S W Processing Pathways

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Public institutions involved in Waste Management

• Municipal authorities
 MSW
 C&D
 E-waste
 Hospital waste
 Silt
• Utilities
 Domestic wastewater and sludge
• PCBs
 Industrial solid and liquid wastes
 Biomedical wastes

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 23

Why…Recycle?

• Resources already in the human economy use much less energy than virgin
materials
o 95% for aluminium
o 85% for copper
o 80% for plastics
o 74% for steel
o 64% for paper
• Energy embodied in waste is retained and slows the pace of climate change -
reduces GHG emissions
• Recycling - an essential part of responsible materials management addresses
o Shift from a „linear‟ economy to „circular‟ economy
o Brings money– provides jobs
o Reduces landfill needs and curbs leachate and soil pollution
Source: Zero Waste South Australia
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Recycling and J o b Cre at ion…

Dumping 10,000 tons of waste in a landfill

6 Jobs

recycling
Of 10,000 tons of
waste
36 Jobs

Recycling generates more jobs (at higher income levels) than other forms of waste
management
http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/recycling-benefits.html
Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 2522
Technology and Policy Misfits: Reduce/Reuse Vs. Recycle

• Most of the 3R interventions are heavily inclined towards “Recycling” rather than
“Reduce and Reuse”
• However, there is „limit to recycling‟
• Countries and cities are now paying attention to the source reduction and reuse
• But as cities have already invested and encourage recycling facilities, and reduce
and reuse came later, in rare cases of successful reduce and reuse happening
• Countries are opting waste import (as a result, exporter countries have „an easy
way out‟ and invest less on 2 Rs)
• Similarly, there seems a clash between material recycling facility versus waste to
energy, where WTE facilities are losing out on high calorific waste (ex. plastics) to
recycling

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E U Waste Import: To Burn or Not to Burn?

• A rush to build incinerators to burn waste may

threaten recycling rates

• WTE has become a preferred method in the

EU, there are now 420 plants in Europe
equipped to provide heat and electricity to
more than 20 million people

• Germany ranks top in terms of importing

rubbish, ahead of Sweden, Belgium and the
Netherlands.

• This is not in line with Zero waste Europe or

Circular Economy Pathway?!

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Technology and Policy Misfits: Competition between WTE and
Recyclers

• Many WTE are facing a tough competition for waste flow, hence experiencing
difficulty meeting committed tonnage, Reasons being
• Overestimation of waste streams
• recycling underestimated
• Clash with mandatory recycling program

• WTE facility in the Town of Smithtown filed a lawsuit against a local hauler, USA
Recycling Inc., to prevent the firm from sorting out paper, metal and wood from
commercial waste before taking the residue to WTE

Governance for Holistic Waste Service Delivery 2822

Post Recycling Requisites: The Market for Recycled
Products

• After the waste is recycled into various products- the

ultimate requisite is the „market‟ to absorb those
recycled products

• A report commissioned by Veolia has stated that the

world market for waste, from collection to recycling, is
worth around 300 billion Euros (US $410 billion).

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World’s Recycling Industry and Market

• Approximately 1.6 million people worldwide are active in the recycling industry

• Together, they handle more than 600 million tonnes of recyclables every year

• Annual turnover of more than $200 billion, similar to the GDP of countries such as
Portugal, Colombia and Malaysia

• About 10% of this amount is spent on new technologies, R&D that contribute to
creating high-skilled jobs and making recycling more efficient and environmentally
sound

• Recycled Materials supply 40% of the global raw material needs

“Bureau of International Recycling” http://www.bir.org/industry/
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India’s Dharavi Recycling Slumdog Entrepreneurs

• Dharavi- Asia‟s largest slums is now

labelled as the recycling centre of India
with an estimated 15,000 single room
factories, employing around a quarter of a
million people and turning over a
staggering £700 million ($US 1 billion)
each year
• Over 80% of Mumbai‟s waste is given a
new lease of life by recyclers
• Wages in Dhavari are in range of 3,000 to
15,000 rupees per month
http://www.sustainablebusinesstoolkit.com/dharavi-indias-recycling-
slumdog-entrepreneurs/

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Need for regulatory convergence
Regulations in silos

Air
Air Act Officer 1
emissions

S
Raw Material P
Industry Wastewater Water Act Officer 2 C
Energy Water B

Solid waste HW Rules Officer 3

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Desired regulatory convergence

• The High Level Committee at Government of India (GoI) suggests that for pollution
control purposes, environment needs to be treated as single, inter-related system
• Legislation is presently targeted towards media – air, water and land in isolated
manner yet sources of pollution are inter-related and often inter-changeable
• For instance single source may pollute the air, water and land at the same point of
time
• Present pollution control strategies often transfer pollution from one media to
another, e.g. air to water or solid phase, water to solid phase
• HLC proposes integrating air, water and solid waste acts and rules in proposed
Environment Law (Management) Acts and Rules

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Acknowledgments

• UNEP IETC
• Asian Institute of Technology
• Kyoto University
• Tongji University
• Griffith University
• University of New South Wales
• TERI University

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Thank You!

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